VALIDATION OF THE LEARNING SITUATIONS SCALE FOR SPORTS COACHES - ESATE: DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND VALIDITY EVIDENCE

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to present the first pieces of evidence on the validity of the Learning Situations Scale for Sports Coaches [Escala de Situações de Aprendizagem para Treinadores Esportivos] (ESATE) - referring to content; model fit; and internal consistencies. Four evaluating judges participated in the content validation. In the other procedures, the ESATE was applied to 104 tennis coaches. Initially, the ESATE had 25 items divided into three dimensions: Mediated, Non-Mediated and Internal Situations. The items were evaluated in terms of clarity of language, practical relevance and theoretical dimensionality. Those items that did not reach desired levels were reformulated or reallocated into another dimension. All items presented satisfactory indices (CVC ≥ 0.80) for clarity of language and practical relevance, and “substantial”/”almost perfect” indices of agreement between judges (K ≥ 0.79) for theoretical dimensionality. The model that best fitted the available data was the second-order three-dimensional model with 18 items. It presented “reasonable”/”good” fit indices. The internal consistency of the scale was classified as “good” (α = 0.873), whereas the internal consistency of its dimensions was “weak”/”good” (0.676 ≤ α ≤ 0.801). Thus, it is possible to state that the final version of the ESATE showed satisfactory psychometric qualities for the assessment of learning situations when applied to tennis coaches.